Mumbai: Three youths held for assaulting 53-year-old constable

The constable, Ganpat Chauhan (53), attached with the Shivaji Park police, reportedly tried to break up a fight between the accused and a taxi driver near Sena Bhavan. Chauhan got six stitches above his left eye.

THREE youths were arrested for allegedly assaulting a Mumbai Police constable near the Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar in the early hours of Tuesday.

The constable, Ganpat Chauhan (53), attached with the Shivaji Park police, reportedly tried to break up a fight between the accused and a taxi driver near Sena Bhavan. Chauhan got six stitches above his left eye.

Police said Chauhan was on duty outside Sena Bhavan when he heard loud noises from a nearby petrol pump. He went over to intervene in an argument that had broken out between the youths and the taxi driver. “When Chauhan enquired what the matter was, the driver said the youths were kicking his taxi as he refused to ply them to Parel,” said a police officer.

Police said when Chauhan asked the youths to calm down, they started arguing with him and “assaulted” him with his own lathi. Police alleged the taxi driver refused to take an injured Chauhan to hospital and fled. Chauhan then called his colleagues at Shivaji Park police station, who rushed him to KEM hospital.

Police said footage from a nearby CCTV camera corroborates Chauhan’s statement to police. The footage also captured the model and numberplate of one of the youth’s motorcycles. “Following the lead, we arrested the accused,” said a police officer. The accused were arrested from separate locations in Prabhadevi. They were identified as Akshay Ansurkar (19), Aniket Ansurkar (23) and an 18-year-old.

Last year, 137 incidents of assaults on policemen were reported between January and April. In the same period this year, 201 assaults were reported, most on the constabulary.